Making Memories: Five Generations and Family History

I have always considered myself very blessed to have known almost all of my great-grandparents growing up. I even had a few step-great-grandparents that I had the chance to know. Being the oldest child of two oldest children gave me that advantage. I forget sometimes that not all of my siblings or cousins know and remember our great-grandparents and that is strange to me. I love that I have had opportunities to get to know and love so many people in my family. Like I said in my last post, family is pretty much the most important thing to me. I hope to teach Colson the importance of family too. And he has someone very special in his life to be grateful to have the chance to have met. My great-grandma Beryl is still living, which makes her Colson's great-great-grandma. We have five living generations in my family. I think that is so amazing. Not many people can say that. Grandma Beryl was so excited when we told her that Colson was coming into the family. She has jokingly said that she was only sticking around to get to that fifth generation. We had been planning pretty much the entire time I was pregnant to very quickly get a five generation picture. We didn't want to miss out on that opportunity, even though Grandma Beryl is still doing pretty well. It worked out perfectly that my cousin was getting married shortly after Colson was born. So we all met up at the reception and had a lot of cameras snapping pictures of the five of us together. It was such a special moment for all of us when Grandma Beryl held Colson in her arms. She just started crying, which of course, made a lot of the rest of us cry too. You could feel the spirit there strongly. It is a little testimony of how strong the bonds of family are especially when you have been sealed for eternity in the temple. You could tell how much love Grandma Beryl had for this precious little baby. It was a very touching moment. I am so grateful we had that opportunity to get together. Now my goal is to start doing family history and getting information from my great-grandma and my grandparents so we can remember them. My grandma Beryl is 92. I'm trying to convince her to live to be 100 at least. Then she can see Colson get baptized and meet some more great-great-grandchildren we hope. I want to be able to know more about her life and I want Colson to have the chance to know more about his family and what life was like not terribly long before he was born. Like I said, family is a big deal. And it's not just information about our grandparents I want either. I want to start making my own family history and encourage my family to do the same. I want Colson to have the chance to really know his mom. Know the things that I thought and how I grew and changed throughout my life. That's a goal I have. And I'm hoping to be able to reach it. Now enjoy some five generation pictures.